Vaccine Preventable Death – Raymond Plotkin

What happened – Raymond Plotkin, was a freshman at the University of New Mexico. He was studying to become an engineer. He started class in August 2009 as a freshman interested in Chemical and Nuclear Engineering. He enjoyed his roommates and living in a dorm as part of the Engineering Living Learning Community. In 2009 he had the regular flu shot, but due to shortages of the vaccine, he wasn’t able to get the H1N1 vaccine.

While Raymond had health issues growing up, he had no problems in the last couple of years, according to family members. Doctors told the family they do not believe underlying health problems contributed to his death

He died on Wednesday evening of November 11, 2009, four days after being admitted in the hospital. Said Raymond’s mother:

“It was a terrible tragedy. It could have been prevented had there been vaccine,”

“We are strongly recommending that because Raymond couldn’t take his shot last year, that this year everyone, that whether you’re a child, adult, parent, grandparent, we all take one for Raymond,”

People are getting complacent about H1N1. Please remember what happened to Raymond and get both the seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines as soon as you can.

Raymond’s family has set up a scholarship fund in honor of Raymond’s memory. The first scholarship was awarded to Sean Chavez, a 2010 graduate of Albuquerque High School and computer engineering student at UNM.

For more information about the fund, please contact Susan Georgia, UNM School of Engineering Development Office at 505 – 277-0664; sgeorgia@​unm.​edu.

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Thanks for helping get the word out about flu vaccinations. We can only hope that another family does not have to go what we have gone through. It is amazing the responses we have received from people like you that we do not even know.